


fool you've landed

by dontyoublink



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Mentions of Greendale, Post-Season/Series 06, just two cute people being cute together, pure fluff, references to episodes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-06-10 16:56:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15295962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontyoublink/pseuds/dontyoublink
Summary: Annie has to confront her feelings for Abed when a job opportunity takes her to L.A.





	1. awake my soul

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic, so please give me feedback! I posted a headcanon on tumblr about Annie moving to LA and it got a positive reception, so I figured I would turn it into an actual story.
> 
> Work and chapter titles from Mumford & Sons

As soon as she left her boss’ office that morning, Annie ran into a storage closet, whipped out her phone, and dialed the most frequently called number. She paced back and forth in the small space as she listened to the ringing. After an unusually long wait, he picked up.

“Hello?” Abed’s voice was gravelly and sent a tingle up Annie’s spine even as she stopped in her tracks.

“Oh my god, I woke you up!” Annie exclaimed, horrified. “I completely forgot about the time difference. I’m so sorry, I’ll call you back later.”

Abed interjected before she could hang up. “No, it’s okay. You must have something important to tell me if you called this early. What is it?”

Annie instantly perked up. “I got the job!”

“Really? That’s amazing!” Abed sounded much more awake now; she could even hear the excitement bleeding into his voice. “So that means—”

“I’m moving to L.A.!” she interrupted, unable to contain her excitement. “I have a month left at the office here, and then another month before I start at the L.A. office.”

A few months earlier, Annie had applied for a job as a forensic scientist at the Los Angeles branch of the FBI after her boss had mentioned the opening to her. She was apprehensive at first, worried that she wasn’t qualified even with her experience in D.C. But she was trying to take more risks, so she had submitted her application, gone through the interview, and waited anxiously for a response.

_And I actually got it!_

“Annie?” Abed’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Sorry,” she shook her head as if to clear it, “I got lost in my thoughts for a bit. What were you saying?”

“Move in with me.”

Annie’s heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“Move in with me. It would be cheaper than renting your own apartment, and I have the extra room. Plus, we already know that we live well together, so we could avoid all those sitcom tropes of friends who move in together for the first time. Also…” he hesitated for a moment, “well, if we lived together, then we’d be guaranteed to see each other every day, rather than just falling into the pattern of saying that we’re going to hang out but always cancelling at the last minute because something came up.”

Now Annie’s heart was melting. “Of course I’ll move in with you.”

“Cool. Cool cool cool.” She could picture the slight smile on his face as he said the familiar words. She pulled the phone away from her ear to check the time and realized she’d been away from her desk for too long.

“Hey, I have to get back to work, but we’re still on for Sunday, right?”

“Of course.”

“Good. We can talk more about the details of my move then.”

“Okay. Love you.”

With the faintest bit of a blush, she responded with a “Love you too” before hanging up and heading out of the closet.

She and Abed had been Skyping every Sunday evening for the past three years, ever since they both moved away from Greendale, and, on top of that, they frequently called and texted each other. Truth be told, he was still her best friend and a big part of the reason why she had applied for the job in L.A. Their friendship had taken an interesting, but not unwelcome, turn about a year ago; her blush grew stronger at the memory.

_It was Friday night, and Annie was racing around her apartment. She was running late for dinner with a few of her co-workers, so she was frantically trying to change out of her work clothes and touch up her makeup, while also listening to Abed. He had called her to talk about a movie he had recently seen, and she was struggling to pay attention to him while she got ready._

_“…and it was so much better than I expected!” he exclaimed, just as she found her purse and headed for the door._

_“Abed?” she cut in, “I’m really glad you liked it, but I’m running late to dinner with some friends and I really have to go. We can talk more about it on Sunday, okay?”_

_“Sure, no problem.”_

_“Great. Love you,” she said distractedly as she exited her apartment building, digging through her purse for her metro card. When Abed didn’t immediately respond, she paused, confused, and mentally replayed what she had said. Horror swept through her._

Did I just tell him I _loved_ him? I mean, it’s true, in a totally, completely, one hundred-percent platonic friendship way, of course, but I’ve never said it to him! What if he freaks out? What if he doesn’t want to talk as much anymore? What if—

_Abed finally spoke up, cutting off her spiraling thoughts. “Love you too. Bye.”_

_She was still a bit flushed when she reached the restaurant, but she tried to forget the about the incident, certain that he would as well. However, he had surprised her a few days later by saying “Love you” before signing off of their video chat. Just like that, it became the normal way to end a conversation._

_And if she felt warm inside every time he said those words, and if she had decidedly non-platonic dreams about him that occasionally included an orange-paint-splattered vest, well, no one needed to know._

Annie pushed the memories away as she sat down at her desk, determined to get back to work even though all she wanted to do was look up plane tickets.


	2. hopeless wanderer

Annie adjusted her grip on the duffel bag she was carrying as she wove through the crowd of people making their way out of the airport terminal. She was exhausted after her day of traveling across the country, but the thought of the bed waiting for her at Abed’s, no, _their_ apartment kept her moving.

Once she was within sight of the exit, she scanned the area, looking for Abed. She finally spotted him, standing a little off to the side and sporting a bright green t-shirt. She called his name and saw him break into one of his rare, broad smiles as they made eye contact. He started striding towards her, and she picked up her pace, dodging a few more people until they were standing in front of each other.

Her duffel bag barely hit the ground before she flung her arms around Abed’s neck, pulling him into a tight hug. As his arms wrapped around her just as tightly, she was struck with the sense of _home_ that she felt whenever she was with any of her friends from Greendale. They clung to each other for a few moments before she pulled away. She opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say died as she noticed what was written on his shirt.

“You’re wearing your #AnniesMove shirt. I didn’t even know you still had that.” She could feel her eyes start to water.

“Of course. It marks an important point in our character arcs. And now it’s relevant again.” Abed looked a little wary at the sight of her forming tears, but he refrained from commenting and was probably waiting for a cue from her to signal her emotional state.

The problem was, though, that she didn’t know how to put the mix of emotions—joy, nostalgia, affection—she was feeling into words. She eventually settled for grabbing his hand and threading her fingers through his. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Another smile crept across his face, albeit a smaller, close-lipped one. “I’ve missed you too.”

A beat passed as they stared at each other, smiles on their faces, before Abed bent down and grabbed her bag. “Let’s get the rest of your luggage and go home.”

* * *

 

After dealing with an absurd amount of traffic for 3:00pm on a Wednesday, the pair made it to their apartment. Upon arriving, Annie found the boxes of belongings that she shipped ahead of her stacked neatly in her bedroom.

“I didn’t want to touch anything and mess up whatever overly-complicated packing system you used,” Abed said, the corners of his mouth tilting up. Annie smiled and rolled her eyes at his teasing.

“I’ll have you know that my system will make the _un_ packing process go much more quickly than it would have otherwise.”

“I hope so,” he retorted, before clapping his hands together. “Now let’s Annie-fy this place.”

After Abed connected his phone to his portable speaker and selected his “Fun Movie Montage” playlist, they got to work unpacking Annie’s life. They started in the kitchen (“Abed, how have you survived this long without a baking sheet?!”), before moving to the living room (“There’s only two of us, Annie, how many blankets do we need?”), and finally ending up in her bedroom.

Annie stored her clothes away in the closet and dresser while Abed opened the box labeled “Decorations.” He pulled out a stack of carefully wrapped picture frames and set them aside, turning back to the box. She saw him hang the curtains and place the small, colorful pillows on her bed before returning to the picture frames.

She walked over to him and watched as he unwrapped the first frame, revealing a picture of the original study group. They were in the study room, trying and failing to pose for a group picture. Troy and Abed were mid-handshake, Shirley was hitting Pierce with her purse, Jeff and Britta were arguing, and Annie was standing in the middle of it all with her arms crossed, exasperation written across her face.

“I love this picture because it captures the dynamic of the group, but I can’t remember why it was taken,” Annie explained.

Abed immediately responded. “It was the Dean’s idea. He came in dressed like Cruella de Vil for the 101st meeting of the study group and insisted on taking a picture to commemorate the occasion.”

Annie chuckled. “He really loved us, huh?”

Abed propped the picture up on the dresser and unwrapped the next. This one was of the Save Greendale Committee in the gymnasium during their last year at Greendale, this time with everyone posing and the Dean in the picture.

“I can’t remember when this one was taken either. Was it after we exorcised the gym demons?” Annie asked.

“No,” Abed replied, he brow furrowed in thought, “we did that during our fifth season. I think this was after we helped set up for the winter dance that had to be moved to the gym because Star-Burns drove through the window of the cafeteria while he was high.”

“God, our school was weird.” Annie took the picture and propped it up next to the first while Abed unwrapped the last one. It was of Annie, Abed, and Troy in her bedroom the day she moved in with the boys. She was squished in between them, their arms wrapped around each other, pure happiness radiating from their faces.

Annie sighed and rested her head on Abed’s shoulder, feeling nostalgia flow through her for the second time that day. “That was a good day.”

“Really? Even after dealing with me and Troy?”

Annie shifted her head so she could see his face. “Yes. It was worth it.”

Abed tilted his head to look at her, then froze. Annie felt heat rising in her cheeks and saw his eyes widen almost imperceptibly as they realized how close their faces were. It took nearly all of Annie’s willpower to keep her eyes from sliding down to his lips and to take a step back instead.

“So, uh, Troy’s supposed to call soon, right?”

The mention of his best friend snapped Abed out of his frozen state. “Yes. He’s scheduled to call in exactly two weeks.”

“Good. It’s been too long since I last talked to him,” Annie said. Troy had returned from his trip around the world shortly after she and Abed had moved away from Greendale, but he soon discovered that he missed sailing. He quickly fell into a pattern of alternating between land and sea every few months. He decided to move to L.A. to be closer to both Abed and the ocean, which, along with Abed’s continually growing empathy skills, helped Abed come to terms with Troy’s decision. Annie was pretty proud of both of them for the maturity they showed.

“We should probably keep unpacking,” Annie suggested, trying to dispel the lingering awkwardness, and they returned to their tasks. 

* * *

 

That night, as Annie lay in bed trying to fall asleep, the truth she had been avoiding kept ringing in her head.

_I like Abed._

It was easier to disregard when she mainly saw him through a webcam and communicated with him through a phone. When it was just her body warming from the inside out when he said “love you.” When it was just her dreams becoming more frequently centered on him.

But now? Even after just one day of being in his presence, she knew she couldn’t ignore it. She could still feel his hands against her back from their hug in the airport. She could still see his face right in front of hers in this very room. They had always been physically affectionate once they had become close friends, so it’s not like she could avoid those situations without tipping him off to the fact that something was up. And she couldn’t tell him. At least not yet, when they were reintegrating into each other’s lives. No, she would just have to keep herself in check. Which she could do. She was a grown adult woman who survived Greendale and worked for the FBI.

_I can handle this._

_Right?_

Annie groaned and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Mumford & Sons


	3. where are you now

A week and a half after she moved in, Annie was sitting in the living room and reading through some paperwork in preparation for her job when she was struck by a realization: she already felt completely comfortable here. When she had first moved to D.C., it had taken over a month for her to shake the feeling that she was a stranger in the city.

She had a guess as to why things were different this time around. She glanced over at Abed, who sat on the opposite end of the couch editing some footage for one of his side projects. He had been so accommodating, showing her around the area and going shopping with her for all the things that she forgot or wasn’t able to bring in the move. And of course, his presence alone helped to keep her calm in the face of the anxieties that this major change brought.

She watched as his brow furrowed in concentration and he leaned closer to the laptop screen, a fond smile creeping across her face. _He really is cute when he’s so focused on work,_ she thought. She was suddenly hit by a feeling of panic as she realized that she had been staring at him for way too long, and she quickly averted her eyes before he caught her.

After another half hour of working, a dull buzzing sound broke through her concentration. She looked up to see Abed reading a text before turning to her

“Some of my friends from work want to get dinner tonight, and you’re invited.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “Me? Really?”

Abed nodded. “They want to meet you. But you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“I mean, if you’re sure I wouldn’t be intruding,” she said hesitantly.

“You wouldn’t be,” he replied.

She smiled at him. “Okay. I’ll go.”

“Cool,” he said, eyes lighting up just a bit, even as his voice remained flat. “I’ll let them know.”

As he responded to the text, she turned back to her paperwork, trying to dispel the nervous anticipation she felt.

* * *

 

Stepping into the restaurant, Annie nervously smoothed down her blouse for the hundredth time since they had left the apartment. Despite Abed’s insistence that his friends wanted her to come to dinner, she was still worried that she would feel out of place. As they stood in the entrance while Abed scanned the room for his friends, Annie felt the warm weight of his hand settle on the small of her back. The physical contact was reassuring, which was probably what he was going for.

_I am an adult. I can do this. These are Abed’s friends, so we’ll probably get along great! And anyways—_

Abed spoke up, cutting off her inner pep talk. “Over there, on the left.”

She looked to where he was pointing and saw a small group of people waving at them. They headed in that direction, weaving through the tables and waiters. Abed only dropped his hand once they reached their seats at the circular table. She immediately missed it.

“Everyone, this is Annie,” Abed said, pausing for a chorus of greetings before continuing. “Annie, this is Lucy, Priya, David, and Maria. They’re all production assistants with me.” He pointed at each person in turn, and Annie returned their greeting.

“We’ve heard so much about you!” Lucy exclaimed. “How is working for the FBI?”

Annie blinked, a little surprised by the other woman’s enthusiasm. “It’s really great. When I originally started as an intern, I wasn’t sure if it would lead to an actual job with them, so I’m incredibly grateful that it did.”

 “What made you decide to move out here?” Maria asked, leaning toward Annie from across the table.

“Well, my boss in D.C. mentioned the position to me when it opened, explaining that it would be a step up and I’d get to start dipping my toes in some field work. And knowing that I already had a friend in the city made it much more appealing.” She glanced at Abed, only to find him watching her intently. When they made eye contact, the corners of his mouth rose in a small smile, which she returned.

She turned back to the others at the table and noticed that they were giving each other looks, as if something important had just happened. Shaking off her confusion, she asked, “So how do you guys like working as PAs?”

David spoke up this time. “Luckily, we’re unionized, so we get to do work that’s actually related to filming, rather than picking up coffee orders and cleaning up after people. Still, it’s not the most glamorous job, but we have to start somewhere.”

As the conversation continued and the food arrived, Annie grew more and more relaxed. Abed’s friends were absolutely hilarious, and they seemed genuinely interested in her. They ended up swapping stories about the ridiculous things the actors did on the set of the show (“The director was praising him for an amazing performance without even realizing that he was completely trashed!”) and the insane things that happened at Greendale (“It turns out that the whole game was a plot by City College, our rival, to destroy our school.”) Every now and then she looked over at Abed, and each time he was already watching her with a hint of a smile on his face; this made her feel a little giddy for reasons she wasn’t willing to acknowledge at that moment.

About halfway through the meal, Annie excused herself to go to the bathroom. Lucy instantly jumped up and offered to go with her. It reminded her of the times she escaped the study group with Shirley and Britta to gossip in the bathroom.

“So, you and Abed, huh?”

Annie was ripped from the pleasant memories of Greendale. “I’m sorry, what?” she squeaked out, a blush starting to spread across her face.

Lucy smiled mischievously. “This thing between you and Abed, how long has it been going on? You aren’t dating—he would’ve told us—but there’s clearly more than just a regular friendship here.” The two women pushed their way into the bathroom, stopping in front of the sinks.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Annie tried to sound calm, but she knew her bright red face was giving her away, so she turned to the mirror and started messing with her hair, avoiding Lucy’s knowing look.

“Oh, come on,” Lucy retorted, rolling her eyes good-naturedly and crossing her arms. “We’ve all had our suspicions, what with how Abed talks about you, but they were basically confirmed when he told us that you were moving here. I’ve never seen him that excited. _Never_. And seeing the both of you tonight has proven that this isn’t just a one-sided thing on his part.”

Annie had to force herself to stay calm and keep the pitch of her voice down. “What do you mean, seeing us tonight?”

“Firstly, you two are constantly touching each other,” Lucy said, counting off on her fingers. “I’m talking hand-over-hand action, grabbing each other’s arms, and don’t think we didn’t see how close you were when you walked up to the table. Secondly, you’re watching each other whenever you aren’t directly engaged in a conversation. And thirdly, I can tell you as some who works in the TV business that you two have some intense chemistry.”

Annie sighed, realizing that she was caught, and turned to face Lucy. “You’re right. I have…feelings for Abed—” at Lucy’s triumphant look, Annie hastily continued, “but he doesn’t know, and I’m not even sure I want to do anything about it, so please don’t tell him!”

Lucy’s expression softened. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret.”

“Thanks.” Annie paused, unsure if she should ask the question that was on her mind, but her curiosity won out. “So, uh, what did you mean when you said, ‘how Abed talks about’ me?” she said, trying (and failing) to sound casual.

Lucy’s grin returned full-force. “Well, for starters, he mentions you in conversations all the time. We probably know way too much about you for people who you’ve only just met. And he’s always singing your praises: you’re smart, you’re good at simulations, you’re independent, you make good buttered noodles, you’re his third-favorite TV show, and so on. Also, your opinion is practically law to him. If I had a dollar for every time I heard him say ‘Annie says…’ or ‘Annie thinks that…’ I would be rich.”

“Oh,” Annie let out on a breath. She could feel her face heating up again and nervously averted her gaze.

“It doesn’t bother us,” Lucy reassured her. “We think it’s really cute.”

Annie wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Thanks?”

“Now can I ask a question of my own?”

Annie was a bit wary, but she figured it was only fair. “Sure.”

“What happened during that paintball game? The _Star Wars_ one?”

Annie’s eyes went wide. “What? Why? Has he said anything?”

Lucy was full-on smirking by this point. “No, but you both seemed extra flustered when recounting that story earlier. So what, did you make out or something?”

Annie looked down at her hands, which she was anxiously wringing together. “…Maybe,” she said in a small voice.

Lucy’s jaw dropped, and Annie rushed to add, “But it was in character! And it was really just one kiss!”

“Oh my god, I was kidding, but that’s amazing.” Lucy’s look of shock transformed to one of pride. “Way to go, Abed.”

“Oh god,” Annie groaned, burying her face in her hands. She lifted her head again when she felt Lucy place her hand on her arm.

“Like I said, I’m not going to tell anybody about any of this,” Lucy promised seriously. “And I know you said you don’t want to do anything about this right now, but if you change your mind and need help or someone to talk to, you can come to me.”

“Thank you,” Annie replied sincerely. “I’m actually kind of relieved to talk to someone about this.”

After going to the bathroom, the women returned to their table. Annie was so focused on pushing the conversation out of her mind that she jumped, startled, when she felt fingertips brush against her arm. She turned to Abed, who was watching her curiously.

“You were gone for a while. Is everything okay?”

Annie let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, we were just, uh, chatting. Girl stuff, you know.”

Abed tilted his head slightly and continued to regard her with his piercing stare. After a few seconds, he replied with a “cool” and turned back to the conversation of the table.

Annie couldn’t help but glance at Lucy, who had clearly witnessed the whole exchange. When they made eye contact, Lucy smirked and waggled her eyebrows. Annie rolled her eyes.

She was able to concentrate on the group for the rest of dinner, but as she tried to fall asleep that night, Lucy’s words echoed in her head.

_This thing between you and Abed…_

_You two have some intense chemistry._

_We think it’s really cute._

She sighed. This whole situation was driving her crazy. She was going to have to do something, wasn’t she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the feedback I've gotten so far! It's super helpful to know that neither of them sound terribly out of character or something.
> 
> Chapter title from Mumford & Sons


	4. not with haste

Annie and Abed sat side-by-side on their couch, intently watching Abed’s phone, which rested on the coffee table as they waited for a call from Troy. When Troy had originally decided to continue sailing, the three friends worked out a system so that they could stay in regular contact with him: before finishing a phone call he would suggest a time and date for the next conversation, Annie and Abed would confirm it worked, and either he would call then or, if something came up, reschedule.

When Annie and Abed had been living on opposite sides of the country, they went through the unnecessarily difficult process of conference calling so that the three of them could talk together. _Thank god we don’t have to deal with that anymore_ , Annie mused. Just then, Abed’s ringtone (“ _Troy and Abed on the phone!_ ”) pulled her from her thoughts. Abed hit the answer and speaker buttons in quick succession. “Hello?”

“Hi guys!” Troy’s voice filled the room, and Annie and Abed exchanged bright smiles.

“Hi!” they chorused. “Any adventures?” Abed asked.

Troy told them about the day that sharks surrounded the boat and he had to outrun them (“They honestly weren’t interested in us, but that’s not as exciting.”) He described the beautiful town in Mexico where he was docked, with gorgeous beaches, delicious food, and interesting people (“Man, Chang did _not_ teach us anything useful”), and he promised that he would take Annie and Abed there sometime.

After he finished recapping everything that had happened to him since they last talked, Troy changed the topic. “How was the trip, Annie? Did everything make it safely? Did you go through the fancy metal detector where you have to put your hands up, or just the normal one? Abed, did you wear your #AnniesMove shirt?”

Annie laughed at Troy’s onslaught of questions. “In order: the trip was fine, everything made it here unscathed, the fancy one, and yes, he did.”

They continued to talk about Annie’s transition, including what her new job would entail and the prep work she had been doing for it. The conversation eventually turned to the pop culture that Troy was behind on and updates from their other Greendale friends.

Annie checked the clock on her phone and realized they had been talking for over an hour. She showed Abed the time, and he nodded. “Well Troy, we should probably let you go,” he said reluctantly.

Troy sighed but didn’t argue. After arranging a time and date for their next conversation, they said their goodbyes and hung up. Then, Abed turned on the TV, and Annie immediately got to work. After realizing that she couldn’t ignore her feelings for her roommate, she decided to consult Troy about what to do. Obviously, she couldn’t ask him while Abed was there, so she needed to make up an excuse to leave the apartment and try to call Troy back before he was unreachable again.

She grabbed her purse from her room and slipped on a pair of shoes. “Hey Abed?” she called, walking back into the living room. “I forgot a few things when I went to the store yesterday, so I’m going to pick them up now. Do you need anything?”

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “No, I don’t think so. Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, it’s okay, it shouldn’t take too long,” she said hastily. “See you later!” she added, opening their front door. Abed barely had time to say “bye” before she was out the door, cringing at her lack of chill. _Oh well, hopefully he’ll forget about it._

As soon as she was a safe distance from their apartment, she whipped out her phone and pulled up Troy’s number. She nearly crossed her fingers as the phone rang, but it wasn’t long before Troy picked up.

“Annie?”

“Hi Troy,” she said, closing her eyes and sighing in relief.

“Is everything okay?”

He sounded concerned, so she quickly reassured him. “Everything’s fine, I just needed to talk to you about something, and I couldn’t do it with Abed there.”

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s about him. But before I continue, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anybody about this conversation. _Especially_ not Abed,” she added sternly.

Troy sounded downright confused. “Um, okay, I promise. What’s up?”

Annie mustered up her courage before she could chicken out. “I have a—a crush. On Abed.” _There. No taking it back now._

Part of her thought that Troy was going to freak out, or at the very least be surprised, but that wasn’t the case. “Huh. I wondered if something like this was going to happen.”

“Wait, what?” she said. “You’ve thought about this? Why?”

“Nope, no, I know nothing!” Troy stammered. “But we’re talking about you! Why are you telling me this?”

Annie brushed off Troy’s weird behavior as she focused on her dilemma. By this point, she had made it to her car, which she climbed into as she answered him. “I’ve decided that I want to try to have something with him instead of ignoring my feelings. But I don’t want to spring this on him and freak him out. I feel like I need to build up to it, but I’m not sure how. I was hoping you could help me.”

“Of course I’ll help,” he said seriously. “So, it sounds like you want to start dropping hints before you say anything, right?”

“Exactly,” she responded, switching her phone to her left hand and leaning her head back against the headrest.

“Okay, well we know that Abed understands social situations by comparing them to tropes and pop culture.”

“So I should do things that people typically classify as flirtatious,” she interjected, “like giving him compliments and increasing physical contact, right?”

“Yes!” Troy answered, sounding excited. “And maybe every now and then you could create date-like scenarios, or at least ones that are used in TV and movies to create romantic tension.”

“And he’ll hopefully pick up on the romantic vibe, so when I confess it won’t seem so out-of-the-blue!” she exclaimed. “Troy, this is really helpful. Thank you.”

“No problem. Just give me credit when Plan Win Abed Over Using Romantic Tropes succeeds.”

Annie laughed. “Will do. But maybe we can just call it Plan Seduce Abed?”

“Dang, I _knew_ there was a better name.”

Annie laughed again. “Okay, well I better go before Abed gets suspicious. Thanks again for your help. And remember, do not tell _anyone_ about this,” she reminded him, trying to sound at least somewhat threatening.

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” Troy said. “I’ll talk to you again in a few weeks. Good luck!”

“Bye,” she replied. Once she hung up, she started her car and headed to the store.

* * *

 

That night, Annie found herself eating dinner with Abed in front of the TV, as they often did. This time, however, she wasn’t paying attention at all to the drama unfolding on the screen. Instead, she was going over her plan in her head. In all honesty, she had been thinking about it nonstop since she talked to Troy, but she had to make sure it was perfect.

_We’re already pretty physically affectionate, so ramping that up would be the best place to start. I can gauge his response, and if it’s positive I can continue with the plan. For the compliments, I can just loosen my filter a little bit and let some of my thoughts out. But only the mild ones, like, “Your hair looks nice today,” or, “I’ve really appreciated your support over these past few weeks,” and not, “My day gets brighter every time I see you.” Well, maybe not at first. As for the romantic situations, I can start small with something like going to see a movie and work my way up to a, a, ooh, a fancy party! Wait, how would I get invited to a fancy party? Whatever, I can figure that out later._

“Annie?”

She jumped at the sound of Abed’s voice, and quickly turned to look at him. He was looking back with an odd expression. A bolt of terror shot through her and for a split second she thought she might’ve been talking out loud, but then he spoke up again.

“You’ve been unusually quiet tonight. Are you okay?” He gazed at her with a hint of concern in his eyes.

“Yeah Abed, I’m fine, I’m just tired. I think the stress of moving is catching up to me. I should probably just hang out alone tonight, you know, relax, have some ‘me time.’ And go to bed early too. Gotta get all the sleep I can before going back to work,” she finished weakly. She was rambling, which was a sure sign that she needed to get out of there. If he looked at her like that any longer, then her filter would be knocked clean off and her plan, not to mention their whole dynamic, would be destroyed.

“I’m just gonna go do that now. Be alone, that is,” she said, rising from her seat.

Without waiting for a response, she turned and headed to the kitchen, where she rinsed her plate and put it in the dishwasher. She then (not so) calmly made her way to her room. As soon as her door was shut, she flopped onto her bed, buried her head in her pillows, and let out a muffled groan. She really needed to learn how to keep her cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly expository, but we'll get to the fluff next time! Also, I have the story generally mapped out, but if anyone has ideas for date-like situations, leave them in the comments and I can try to work them in. Thanks for reading!!


	5. dust bowl dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Annie nearly has a panic attack in this chapter. If you need to skip this part, it is the second section in italics, starting with "Annie had gone to bed..." and ending with "...deep, restful sleep." Basically, Abed talks Annie down from a panic attack the night before she starts her job, and she kisses him on the cheek.
> 
> More notes at the end. Enjoy!

Though similarly a flurry of activity, the In-N-Out Burger she currently sat in provided Annie with a much-needed respite from the FBI office. She was close to finishing her first week at her new job; after her lunch break, only the upcoming afternoon stood between her and the weekend. She was still going through the ropes of starting a job, but she got along well with her colleagues and she couldn’t wait to begin assisting in the lab. Still, the training was tiring, and she was happy she found a table tucked away in the corner of the restaurant where she could stop thinking about protocol and confidentiality forms and just eat her burger in peace.

As she ate, she let her mind wander. Of course, it quickly landed on Abed, as was becoming the norm. Even after talking to Troy and coming up with a plan, she was afraid of coming on too strong and weirding Abed out, so she started small.

_Every night, the two roommates ate dinner in front of the TV. For the past week, Annie had been deliberately sitting a little closer to Abed on the couch each night. He hadn’t commented on it; in fact, he hadn’t made any indication that he picked up on the change, which she found relieving and worrying in equal parts. Tonight, they were so close that their arms brushed as they ate, and she could just barely feel the body heat coming off of him._

_They were watching a recent episode of_ Inspector Spacetime _that she had missed, and she was so engrossed in it that she barely noticed when Abed took her empty bowl from her hands. She did notice, however, when he got up and walked to the kitchen with their dishes._

_“Do you want me to pause it?” she called back to him._

_“No, keep it going, I’ve seen it.” She heard him turn on the sink to wash their bowls, but quickly tuned him out because of the unfolding drama on the screen._

_She definitely noticed when he sat back down next to her, just as close as they had been before. She spent the rest of the episode resisting the urge to break into a victorious grin._

After that, she was too focused on preparing for the job to think much about her plan. However, the two shared another moment the night before her first day back at work.

_Annie had gone to bed early, hoping that it would make it easier to wake up in the morning. But she had spent the past hour tossing and turning in bed, her anxiety preventing her from falling asleep. As much as she was trying to keep her thoughts positive, they were becoming increasingly more insidious._

You’re not ready for this job.

You’re going to make a fool of yourself.

You’re not good enough.

_She felt her chest tighten, her breath become shallower, and her body heat up, sure signs of an impending panic attack. She leapt out of bed and headed for the kitchen, thinking that a glass of water might help her calm down. She had already grabbed a cup from the cabinet with shaky hands and started filling it when Abed spoke up._

_“Annie? You have work tomorrow. Why are you still awake?”_

_Annie sighed and shut off the faucet before making her way to the couch, where Abed sat reviewing film on his laptop. She drank a sip of water, and then answered._

_“I can’t sleep. I’m too nervous.” She set the cup down when she noticed she was still shaking and pressed her palms flat against her thighs. She closed her eyes and concentrated on taking slow, steady breaths._

_“Annie.” Her eyes flew open, and she turned to Abed. He had a look in his eye that was strangely…determined? “You are the smartest person I have ever met, and the most ambitious. No one else could’ve finished all of the Save Greendale Committee’s tasks in one year. What you don’t already know for this job, you will learn.”_

_At this point, Abed reached over and peeled one of her hands away from her leg, clutching it tightly. “I believe in you, and the people at this office must as well, since they hired you.”_

_She felt the corners of her lips turn up and she squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”_

_He squeezed back. “We can sit here until you feel better.” They sat quietly, and she took the occasional sip of water. After a little while, she felt her heart rate return to normal, and the anxious energy in her body was replaced with a tired feeling._

_Annie squeezed Abed’s hand one more time before letting go. “Thanks for helping me calm down.”_

_Acting on an impulse, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, her lips lingering for a second. Without waiting for a response, she got up and headed for her room. When she crawled into bed this time, she quickly fell into a deep, restful sleep._

Abed had been right—her first day went well. And the next day, and the one after that. In fact, she had never started something—a school year, a job—so strongly, so she was in a great mood.

_It was Thursday, which meant that it was Annie’s turn to cook dinner. She hummed along to her playlist while she cooked ground beef for the tacos she was making. She had just taken the pan off of the stove when the unmistakable guitar intro to “Roxanne” began to play._

_She looked over at Abed, who was seated on the couch, and a split second later he turned to look at her._

_“This song always reminds me of your housewarming party” she said, a smile stretching across her face._

_“Me too,” he responded, gazing into the distance with a reminiscent air about him. Then, his eyes snapped back to hers as he said, “We ended up in a pretty good timeline.” She knew that they were both remembering that first invitation to move in with him._

_Feeling bolder than usual, a combination of both his comment and her good week, Annie walked over to him, moved his laptop to the coffee table, and grabbed his hands. “Dance with me,” she said, tugging on his hands. She half-expected him to put up some resistance, but he rose easily, and soon they were dancing around the room, singing along with Sting._

_As the song began to fade, Abed grasped her hand again and raised their arms, spinning her around. She collapsed against his chest in a fit of giggles, and he slipped an arm around her waist to help her stay upright. He rested his chin on her head, and she felt more than heard him release a few chuckles of his own. After she composed herself, she reluctantly pulled away, and they headed into the kitchen before the food could grow cold._

Annie felt her heart swell with affection at the memory of the night before. Having finished her meal, she threw away her trash and started walking back to the office.

A few minutes later, she suddenly felt her phone buzzing in her purse. She pulled it out and saw Abed’s name on the screen. A little confused, she answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey Annie, can you talk for a minute?” Abed’s voice was its typical monotone, so she knew there was no immediate crisis, at least.

“Sure, I’m on my lunch break. What’s up?”

“We should have a movie marathon tonight to celebrate your first week on the job. You can pick the theme.”

“Really?” Usually Abed was in charge of movie nights, for obvious reasons. “Okay, give me a second to think,” she said, looking left and right before crossing a street.

“Oh, I got it! Colin Firth movies.” A night centered on one of her favorite actors? _Hell yeah_.

“Can one of the movies be _Kingsman_?” he asked.

“Deal,” she replied. “How about _The King’s Speech_ , _Kingsman_ , and _Love Actually_?”

“Okay. I’ll take care of the movies and dinner.”

“Sounds good.” She pushed through the doors of the FBI building, showing the security guard her badge. “My break’s about over, so I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yep, see you tonight.”

She smiled as she hung up, touched that Abed had suggested this celebration, especially since he knew how worried she had been about the job. With this to look forward to, she went about her work with an extra spring in her step.

* * *

 

As the end credits of _The King’s Speech_ rolled, Annie tried to discreetly wipe away her tears before Abed saw them, but she had no such luck.

“You’re crying,” he observed.

Swiping her hands under her eyes one last time, she responded, “Yeah, this movie always makes me cry. It’s just…” she trailed off, trying to find the right words. “He was able to face the fear that had scared him all of his life and come out on the other side. I’ve been there, so watching him succeed is emotional. In a good way. Plus,” she added, “after watching his friendship with Lionel develop, it’s touching to know that they stayed such good friends.”

He turned to the TV with a thoughtful expression, but it was clear that he wasn’t paying attention to the names scrolling by. After a minute or so, he spoke up. “Before Greendale, I wouldn’t have understood what you meant. But I do now, even though I don’t have the same emotional response.” He looked back at her and, with a hint of lightheartedness, said, “I guess that’s character development.”

She laughed a little at his joke but tried to convey the sincerity of her reply through her tone. “Yes, it is.” She could tell by his smile that he caught it.

She stood up from the couch and started gathering their empty take-out containers that were scattered across the coffee table. “I’ll throw these away if you switch out the DVDs.”

When they had both returned to the couch, Annie folded her legs up underneath her and leaned against Abed slightly, resting her head on his shoulder. She smiled as she felt him press his cheek to the top of her head.

They remained in that position for the entirety of _Kingsman_ , though Annie would occasionally bury her face in his neck to muffle her laughter during the particularly funny scenes. Abed didn’t seem to mind.

By the time the movie was over, it was late, and Annie was starting to feel drowsy. She let out a yawn as Abed moved to insert the next movie, and he glanced at her over his shoulder. “Are you tired? We can watch _Love Actually_ tomorrow.”

Annie shook her head. “No, I’m good!” However, at around the twenty-minute mark, she was fighting to keep her eyes open. But she really loved this movie, so she was determined to stay awake.

* * *

 

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was that she was not in her bed. She felt too…squished. _Why do I feel squished?_

The second thing she noticed was the warmth. She was much warmer than she usually was when she slept.

That’s when she felt movement, and her eyes flew open.

She was sandwiched in between the back of the couch and Abed, her head nestled against his shoulder and one hand lightly gripping his T-shirt. She looked up at his face in time to see his eyes blink open. When their gazes met, a sleepy smile began to stretch across his face, before quickly being replaced with a look of confusion.

“We must have fallen asleep during the movie,” he concluded.

Abed’s voice, which had that same rough quality as it did when she called to tell him about her job a few months ago, set off all kinds of alarm bells in her mind. A blush was starting to rise in her cheeks, and she needed to move before he saw. She tried to sit up but found that Abed’s arm was clamped firmly around her waist. That only made her blush harder.

“Um, Abed?” she managed to get out, “Can you let go of me?”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, removing his arm.

He didn’t even seem affected by their situation. _Totally unfair_ , she thought as she stood. _I mean, we were practically entangled in each other!_

She spoke up before her brain could start ruminating on how, exactly, that had felt. “I’m going to hop in the shower, and then maybe we can make breakfast?”

“Sure,” he replied calmly.

 _Totally, completely unfair_ , she muttered internally as she walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry there was a longer wait for this chapter! I haven't been feeling particularly inspired lately, but I'm working through it. Updates will probably be slower as the weeks go on because I'm heading back to school, but I've promised myself that I won't abandon this story. Thanks for the continued feedback in the form of kudos and comments--they help motive me!


	6. roll away your stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out that senior year of college is harder than junior year...who knew??? Unfortunately, this means updates will still be few and far between for the next couple of months, but fortunately I already had this chapter written!! S/o to AM's comment on the last chapter for motivating me to actually edit and post this.

It was a Monday evening, and Annie was eating dinner alone. Abed’s show started filming that day, and she knew he would still be gone when she got home from work, but that knowledge didn’t stop her from feeling like everything was off. They had gotten into the routine of spending the hours in between dinner and bedtime in the living room, her reading forensic literature and him working on one of his projects. Often, they would hardly speak, but it was enough just to be together. Now, the apartment felt empty.

At that moment, as if summoned by her thoughts, Abed walked through the door. Annie perked up, but before she could let out a cheery “hello,” she realized something was wrong. She watched, confused, as he swept past her without a glance, muttering under his breath and a troubled look on his face. He headed straight to his room and shut the door with more force than usual.

Annie sat in shock for a minute, and then she set down her plate and walked up to his closed door.

“Abed?” she called, knocking lightly a few times. She waited with bated breath for a few moments before the door swung open.

“What?” he asked sharply, the troubled look still present in his lowered eyebrows and clenched jaw. To an outsider, he might look mildly irritated, but Annie could tell that he was well and truly angry.

She bristled at his tone. “I was coming to check on you because you seemed upset, but if you’re going to be rude then I’ll just leave.” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, daring him to start a fight.

He regarded her for a couple of seconds before visibly deflating, his shoulders drooping and gaze falling to the floor. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I’m sorry.”

Annie immediately dropped her defensive stance, and she placed a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. We can talk about it if you want.”

He glanced back up at her for a long moment and then turned and walked over to his bed, sitting down and scooting up until he was leaning against the headboard. He patted the space next to him, and she joined him on the bed, mirroring his position.

“For the past few years, this show has been for me what the study group was: a place where people don’t judge me for functioning differently, a place where I am comfortable, a…” he trailed off, his brows knitting as he searched for the right word.

“A safe space?” she suggested.

“A safe space,” he agreed. “A new actor joined the show this season. He wasn’t filming today, but he came on set to watch the process. He thought I was weird. I overheard him ask another PA if something was wrong with me because I was emotionless and I wouldn’t make eye contact.”

He rested his head against the headboard and closed his eyes. Annie took one of his hands in both of hers and held it in her lap, but she didn’t break the silence. After a few moments, he continued.

“I don’t know why it bothered me so much,” he said, voice softer than it had been before. “Many people have said things like that, and worse, and usually I can ignore it.”

“Maybe,” she said, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb, “it’s because that environment had been one of acceptance, like you said. This new guy came into your safe space and suddenly made it unsafe.”

Abed opened his eyes and gazed into the distance as he mulled over her words. “That makes sense,” he finally said.

“Hopefully he’ll start to understand you, but it will probably take time. No matter what, though, you have friends and colleagues on the show who know you and like you for who you are,” she continued.

She placed a hand on his cheek, turning his head until their eyes met. She could just barely feel him lean into her touch. “And you have me. I’ll always be here to remind you that there is nothing wrong with you. Nothing, okay?”

Abed stared back at her. Then, he started to lean towards her. Annie froze as both panic and excitement flowed through her body. But instead of kissing her, Abed simply rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed again. She instinctually closed hers as well.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

She had no idea how long they sat there like that, foreheads pressed together, but eventually she pulled away.

“Come on,” she said, climbing off the bed. “Let’s get you some food, make special drink, and find a bad movie to watch.”

Later, in the midst of laughing about the plot holes and bad special effects in the B-horror movie they had picked out, Annie caught Abed watching her with a tender look. _Emotionless, my ass_ , she thought even as her breath hitched, _you just have to know how to read him_.

* * *

 

_Just a little bit higher_ , Annie thought, balancing on a chair and holding up a piece of rope ready to be taped to the wall. She was interrupted by the sound of Abed unlocking the door to the apartment. Dropping her arms, she turned to face him.

Abed was standing, frozen, just inside the doorway. She could see his eyes flickering all over the living room, taking in the scene before him. Blankets and pillows littered the floor, concentrated in the space she had made between the couch and the TV by pushing the coffee table to one side of the room. The fairy lights that usually hung in her bedroom were strung along the walls, waiting to be plugged in. Spare bedsheets were attached, via her industrial-sized binder clips, to the rope in her hand, which stretched across the room. She could see the moment it all clicked in his head, and he turned his calculating look on her.

“Are you building a blanket fort?” he asked, matter-of-fact.

“Yeah,” she replied dejectedly, “and I know it’s not as good as the ones you and Troy made, but I wanted to surprise you. I was hoping I could finish it before you got back, but it took longer than I expected to find this rope at Wal-Mart, and the self-checkout machines were broken so I had to wait in line, and now I can’t reach high enough to hang the rope, even with the chair. But I made buttered noodles!” she finished, her demeanor brightening, as she pointed to the pot warming on the stovetop.

He tilted his head. “Why?”

“I figured you would be hungry when you got back, and I had a big lunch, so I thought I’d wait to eat until you were here.”

“No, why…this?” Abed gestured towards the living room.

“Oh. Well,” Annie said, looking down at the rope she was twisting in her hands, “I feel like I’ve barely seen you these past three weeks, let alone spent time with you. I thought it would be fun if I built a blanket fort and we watched some movies and just hung out.”

She glanced back up at him and saw his eyes softening into that tender look she had seen the night of his first day on set. After a moment, he walked over to her and held out his hand. She took it, placing her other hand on his shoulder while he gripped her waist, and let him help her down from the chair.

Once both of her feet were on the ground, she looked up to find him carefully watching her. Her breath hitched involuntarily as their eyes met and she realized how close they were standing. She felt his fingers flex against her waist in response, and she could’ve sworn that his eyes flicked down to her lips. Before she could process this, however, Abed took the rope from her and climbed on the chair.

“I’ll finish hanging this up if you get the food,” he said, without looking back at her. His voice was flat, not revealing any emotions he may or may not have been feeling.

Annie shook herself out of her stupor. “Uh, sure,” she answered, sounding more flustered than she would’ve liked.

By the time she had doled out two large bowls of noodles, Abed had hung up the sheets. They entered the fort, turned off the overhead lights, and plugged in Annie’s fairy lights. These emitted a soft glow that instantly made the space feel cozier.

“What are we watching?” Abed asked, walking over to his DVD collection.

She was touched that he was willing to go along with what she wanted for the second movie night in a row. “I picked last time—it’s your turn.”

He stood for a minute, seemingly contemplating the choice, before plucking a movie from the bunch. He stuck it in the DVD player, and then joined Annie on the floor, sitting atop blankets and leaning against the pillows at the foot of the couch. He passed the case to her and picked up his bowl.

“ _The Dark Knight_ , huh?” she said, turning to him with a grin. This movie always reminded her of Batman simulations, stolen shoes, and a soft hand on her cheek.

“It’s a classic.”

He appeared focused on the noodles he was stirring, but she caught him glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She could read him well enough by this point to know that the look meant he was remembering that night too. Her grin grew.

They watched the movie in relative silence, throwing in the occasional comment. When it was over, Abed took the DVD out of the player, but, to Annie’s surprise, he sat down without choosing another movie.

She looked at him questioningly, but instead of explaining he simply asked, “How is work going?”

She was silent for a moment, not having anticipated this turn of events, but she quickly began talking about the assignments she had been given. Soon, they were trading highlights from the past few weeks, like the comment from Annie’s boss about her attention to detail and Abed’s suggestion of rewording a certain line, which made the final cut.

After a while, there was a lull in the conversation. There was one question Annie had been hesitant to ask earlier, but now she blurted it out before she could second-guess herself.

“How have things been with the new actor?”

A faint smile appeared on Abed’s face. “Things are good with him. He introduced himself to a lot of the staff his first day filming, including me. I gave him a few tips for surviving on set, like how to tell when the main producers are frustrated and which directors are hypercritical. He talks to me pretty frequently now.”

“That’s great! I knew he would come around,” she exclaimed. Then, remembering her decision to be more transparent with her compliments, she added, a little softer, “How could he not?”

Abed glanced away, a gesture that told Annie he was uncomfortable with her praise. “There are plenty of people who never did,” he said ruefully.

She leaned forward and grabbed one of his hands, lacing their fingers together. “Yeah, but a lot of those people were kids, and they were too immature to handle someone different. And you’ve gotten better at connecting with people, too.”

At this, he looked down at their intertwined hands, and then made eye contact with her again. He remained quiet, so she continued. “I mean, even after hearing what the guy said about you, you were kind to him, more so than you needed to be for professional courtesy. That takes strength, and I’m proud of you.”

He held her gaze for a few moments, and then he let go of her hand so he could pull her in for a hug. “Thanks, Annie,” he said gently.

She just squeezed him tighter in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon: Abed craves physical affection from his loved ones because it’s a concrete expression of emotion and thus easier for him to understand.


	7. feel the tide

“What about the Walk of Fame?”

“Nope, too crowded this time of year.”

“The Hollywood sign?”

“Also crowded.”

“The Santa Monica Pier?”

“Annie, it’s summer. _Everywhere_ is overrun by tourists right now.”

Annie let out a huff of frustration. She was trying to plan an outing for the upcoming weekend, something different from the usual movie nights, but Abed was shooting down all of her ideas.

“Abed, c’mon, I’ve been here for two months, and I haven’t seen any of the sights. There has to be _something_ we can do!” she exclaimed.

That made him pause. His gaze shifted to the wall over her shoulder as his head tilted and brows pinched in concentration. After a few beats of silence, he looked back her.

“We can go to one of the lesser known beaches in the area. And if we leave in the morning, we can beat the crowds.”

A smile broke out across her face. “A day at the beach sounds perfect, Abed! You pick the place, and I’ll take care of everything we need to bring.”

He nodded in response. “Cool cool cool.”

As she turned and walked away, her smile grew devious. _A beach day, huh? He won’t know what hit him._

* * *

 

Early Saturday morning, Annie and Abed stood in their living room, triple-checking that they had everything they needed before heading to the beach.

“Snacks? Water bottles?” he queried.

“Packed in the cooler,” she replied.

“Towels? Sunscreen? Sunglasses?”

“All in the bag,” she shot back. “I think that’s everything.”

“To the beach!” he shouted, grabbing the cooler and charging out the door. Annie laughed, hitched the other bag up over her shoulder, and followed his lead.

The car ride was pleasant, if a little long. It was still relatively early by the time the pair got to the beach, so they were able to snag a prime location on the beach that was close to the water but far enough away that it wouldn’t reach them.

_Alright_ , she thought as she finished smoothing out her towel, _now I need to get his attention_.

“So, what do you want to do first?” As she said this, she reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it off.

Annie didn’t consider herself a particularly shallow person; she certainly wanted Abed to like her for her brains and her personality. However, she had noticed throughout the years that he had certain a level of appreciation for her body (mostly because of stolen glances when he thought she wouldn’t see), and she wasn’t above using that. Besides, she had worked hard to go from self-conscious to body positive after her stint in rehab, so she was allowed to feel confident.

All this to say, he hadn’t said a word in response to her question, too focused on the navy-blue bikini top she had revealed. “Abed?” she prompted, reaching down to take off her shorts.

She watched his eyes, wider than usual, bounce from where they had been fixed on her chest, down to where she was unbuttoning her shorts, and finally back up to her face.

“Explore,” he blurted out. “I was, uh, I was gonna explore the area. You never know what would make a good film location.”

“Good thinking,” she replied, digging through their bag and pulling out a bottle. “Sunscreen?”

“Sure,” Abed said, taking off his shirt. As she squeezed the cream into his outstretched hand, she took the opportunity to observe him. She couldn’t tell if he had been working out more, or if his muscles had always been that defined. Because of how thin he was, it was easy to forget that he was in pretty good shape.

Annie pushed those thoughts away and focused on evenly applying the sunscreen. She was _not_ about to show up to work with a sunburn because she got distracted by her shirtless roommate. When she finished covering her arms, she looked over at Abed.

“Hey,” she said, “you do my back and I’ll do yours?”

“Sure,” he repeated. He grabbed the bottle, and she turned so she was sitting with her back to him.

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh as he smoothed his hands across her back. The coolness of the lotion in the hot summer day, the sound of waves crashing on the beach, and the rhythm of Abed’s touch created a very relaxing environment, and she had to stop herself from grumbling when he pulled away.

They switched positions, and she squirted sunscreen into her hand. At the first touch of her hands, Abed jumped, and Annie had to swallow a giggle. He was tense for a few more seconds, but slowly started to relax. As she finished up, she brushed a hand down his spine and was surprised to feel the shudder that ran through his body. _Interesting_.

Abed quickly pulled away. He opened his mouth to say something, but he paused when he looked at her.

She was confused. “What? Is something wrong?”

Instead of answering, he reached a hand out to her face. His eyes traced the path his thumb took as he slowly dragged the pad of it along her jaw. She felt like every part of her body had frozen except her heart, which was racing. When his hand reached her ear, he stopped but didn’t pull away. She stared at him as he stared at his hand. They remained motionless, trapped in the moment.

Then suddenly, Annie’s world was moving again. “You had sunscreen on your face.” Abed pushed to his feet, not meeting her eyes. “I’m going to explore now.”

He walked off before she could respond. She watched his retreating back, nonplussed, before shrugging and reaching for the book she packed in their bag. She wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, but she certainly didn’t mind.

* * *

 

“Inspector! The Blorgons are arriving faster than we can shoot them down!”

Annie and Abed had been aimlessly splashing around in the ocean for a while when Abed had suggested running a simulation involving a beach vacation taken by Inspector Spacetime and Geneva and an attack of newly-waterproofed Blorgons.

That’s how Annie found herself waist-deep in the water, shooting imaginary aliens with an imaginary quantum blaster. She could see other beachgoers giving the pair weird looks, but she was having too much fun to care.

“You’re right,” Abed called back to her, “we’re going to have to retreat and plan our next move!”

Annie made her way to Abed, walking through the water rather than swimming so she could keep firing at their attackers. When she reached his side, she let out a dramatic gasp and clutched her side.

“Geneva!” he cried, glancing at her.

“I’ve been hit, Inspector! It just clipped my side, but I won’t be able to move fast enough to escape,” she said with a grimace.

“I refuse to leave you behind!” He turned and crouched, holding his arms out. “Hop on!”

Annie jumped, wrapping her arms around Abed’s neck and her legs around his torso. Once he had a firm grip on her thighs, he took off running back to their spot on the beach. Though she knew it wasn’t in character, she couldn’t help but laugh as he fought against the wet sand sinking under his feet.

Finally, they reached their towels, and Abed paused to let her slide off his back. She stretched out on her towel, already feeling water on her skin evaporating under the heat of the afternoon sun. She turned her head to the side and saw Abed mirror her position on his own towel.

“I had a lot of fun today,” she said softly.

He met her gaze, and there was a hint of something in his eyes that she couldn’t quite name. “We’ll have to come back another time and finish the simulation.”

Annie beamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! Luckily my finals week wasn't as bad as it has been in past semesters, so I'm slightly less dead than I usually am. Hopefully that means I can find the motivation to write! Reading your lovely comments definitely helps with that part, so I'm very grateful. Let me know what you think of this update!


	8. slip away

Annie slowly dragged the pasta fork through the pot of water, trying to catch one of the noodles swirling around. She finally got one on her third attempt and quickly ran it under a stream of cold water before popping it in her mouth. 

“Good enough,” she muttered to herself as she chewed. As she poured the contents of the pot into a strainer, she heard the sound of someone opening the front door. “I’m in the kitchen!” she called. 

When Abed had texted saying that the day’s filming went faster than expected and he would be home early, Annie had decided to surprise him with his favorite dinner. The smile on his face when he walked into the kitchen was definitely worth it. However, instead of making a beeline for the food, he paused by the counter and caught her eye.

“I got permission for you to visit the set on Saturday,” he said without preamble.

“Really?” she exclaimed, before her face morphed into a look of confusion. “Wait, I thought your boss told you that I needed an actual reason to visit, beyond just being interested.”

Abed smirked, the first time she had seen him do so outside of playing a character. She quickly tamped down on the butterflies that the look set off in her stomach. “I asked if bringing cupcakes for Lucy’s birthday was a good enough reason. By the way, we need to make cupcakes for Lucy’s birthday.”

She let out a gasp of delight. “It’s Lucy’s birthday? That’s great!”

Ever since their first dinner, Abed’s friends had invited Annie to hang out with them many times. At first, she worried that she was only being included because of her friendship with Abed, but as more time went by, she realized that they were sincere in their friendliness. They had even invited her to go out a few times when Abed wasn’t available.

She immediately launched into planning mode. “Okay, so we should probably make the cupcakes the night before. How many will we need? A lot, I bet. I can start making them once I get home from work, and you can join in once you’re back. Should we make different flavors? And what about frosting? I mean, we could go store bought, or we—”

Annie was cut off by Abed’s hands landing on her shoulders, her hands frozen in the air where they had been gesticulating wildly. When she met Abed’s eyes, she noted a hint of amusement.

“Annie, breathe. We have a couple days to figure everything out. I’ll get a count of how many we need tomorrow at work, and we can go from there.”

She sucked in a breath, and then nodded. “Okay, sounds good.”

“Cool. Now let’s eat some noodles.”

* * *

 

Glancing away from the chocolate cupcake in her hands, Annie sneaked a peek at Abed, who was diligently frosting one of the many vanilla cupcakes they had baked while they waited for the next batch to finish. He wore the same look of intense focus that she often saw when he was working on a film project. As she was watching him, he reached up and scratched his cheek. When he lowered his hand, she saw that he had left a streak of frosting on his face, and she let out a giggle.

Abed paused and turned to her, brows furrowed in confusion. “Why are you laughing?”

“You have some frosting there,” she replied, gesturing to the mirroring spot on her own face.

Instead of wiping it off as she expected, he looked at her for a second, and then promptly stuck his finger in the bowl of frosting and swiped it across her cheek.

“There, now we’re matching,” he said, more than a bit smugly.

Annie narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you asked for it,” she muttered, before gathering a dollop of her own chocolate frosting on her finger and painting it across his forehead. It was her turn to be smug, until Abed reached for his bowl again.

She bolted from the kitchen, laughing as she ran towards her room. He caught her just as she pushed her door open, wrapping one arm around her waist from behind and reaching around to spread frosting down her clean cheek with the other.

Her breath hitched as his finger brushed against her lips. He froze but didn’t let go of her. After a moment, she turned slightly, enough so she could see his face, and looked up at him. He was unmistakably staring at her mouth. As her lips parted unconsciously, she was reminded of that first near-kiss all those years ago. Only this time, he inched forward not with the calm assuredness of Don Draper, but a hesitance that was all his own. They were so close that she could feel his puff of breath on her mouth as she let her eyes slide closed and—

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

They jumped as the oven went off, the insistent sound signaling that the cupcakes were fully baked.

“I—I should get those,” Abed stammered. He turned and walked away before she could blink, much less respond. After taking a minute to process the fact that _we almost kissed, oh my God_ , Annie trailed after him.

* * *

 

Annie walked slowly towards the entrance to the studio, her focus on the boxes of cupcakes she was currently balancing in her arms. She looked up when she heard someone call her name, and she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed when she saw David waiting for her by the doors. She had been hoping that Abed would greet her, but she wasn’t surprised that he didn’t. He had barely talked to her the rest of the night after they nearly kissed, and he was long gone by the time that she woke up that morning.

She pasted a smile on her face. “Hi David! How have you been?”

“Never better, especially since I learned you were bringing cupcakes today.” He took a couple of the boxes from her as they headed into the building. “Abed told me that you made your own frosting!”

“Uh, yeah, we did,” she replied, willing herself not to blush at the mention of her roommate. “Speaking of Abed, where is he?”

“Oh, he had some last-minute errand to run before the celebration.” David glanced at her, looking a little more suspicious than she would’ve liked. “He’s been acting kinda weird today, even by his standards. Did something happen yesterday?”

Annie prayed that the ground would open up and swallow her. “Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a regular night at the Nadir-Edison household.”

The suspicious looked intensified, but luckily for her, they had reached the breakroom, so she was able to change the subject to precisely how they should arrange the cupcakes on the table before David could question her further.

* * *

 

“Oh my god, these are amazing!”

Annie turned to see Lucy, who had just taken her first bite of one of the cupcakes. Everyone was milling about in the breakroom, taking full advantage of the break they had been given to sing to Lucy and enjoy the desserts.

“Thanks! I had fun making them!” Annie tried to sound cheery, but even she could tell that it was less than convincing.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. “Okay, what’s up? You’re clearly faking, you and Abed have barely talked since you got here, and he’s been giving you sad puppy dog eyes this entire time. No, don’t look at him, he’ll know we’re talking about him,” she hissed as she grabbed Annie’s arm before she could turn around.

Annie fidgeted under Lucy’s stare. “So, last night. We were making the cupcakes, and then we started smearing frosting on each other’s faces, and then we, uh, we almost…kissed?” she squeaked out.

Lucy’s jaw dropped. “Why ‘almost?’ What happened?”

“The oven went off and then he went back to frosting cupcakes and now he won’t talk to me and it sucks,” Annie said in a rush. “And I don’t know what to do!”

Lucy gave her an appraising look. “Personally, I think you should go plant one on him right now and see what happens.”

It was Annie’s turn to gape. “I couldn’t do that! This is his place of work! Look at all these people! It would be a, a spectacle! And what if he hated it and hated me and it would be so embarrassing!”

“Sheesh,” Lucy said, rolling her eyes, “it was just a joke. Kinda. Obviously, you don’t have to do it. But trust me, he wouldn’t hate it or you.”

“I…” Annie faltered, “I just don’t think I’m ready to put myself out there like that.”

“That’s totally fine,” Lucy replied, “one day, you will be. Until then, let’s hoping that Abed starts acting normal again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, I learned that the “cooking spoon with ridged edges” (my actual Google search) is called a pasta fork. You come for the fluff but leave with the unnecessary trivia.
> 
> Also, new Mumford album means new potential chapter titles and boy do I have plans.


End file.
